Vending machine



Jan. 3, 1928-.

B.F.MWCHUSSON ETAL VENDING MACHINE 7 Filed No'v114, 19 25 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS' Al IORNEY Jan. 3, 1928. 1,655,325

B. F. MITCHUSSON ET AL VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov.l4, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet '2 Zeofirc/ M'fcussoa Herman All, ark/ 71 .Nvmm;

ATTORNEY Jan. s, 1928. 1,655,325

B. F. MITCHUSSON ET AL 4" VEND ING MACHINE Filed NOV.14, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 AITORNEY WITNES: 1

Jan. 3, 1928.

B. F. MIITCHUSSON ET AL VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov'.l4, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 3, 1928. 1,655,325

B. F. MITCHUSSON ET AL VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov.l4, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 zayam/r/m m um,

b/Qpman al'/h INVENTOR:

Patented Jan. 3, 1928.

UNITED srATEs 'PA TENT OFFICE,

BEDFORLD F. MITCHUSSON, F LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, AND HERMON H. LARKINS, OF

' "GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA.

VENDING MACHINE,

Application filed November 14, 1925. Serial No. 69,129.

This invention relates to a vending machine for vending envelopes and the like, the general object of the invention being to provide manually operated means for moving an envelope from a pile and depositing it in a chute which will deliver it to a point where it may be picked up by the purchaser.

Another object of the invention is to provide coin operated means for holding the opcrating means against movement until a coin it. I

Another object of the invention is to pro- 1 vide a weight operated elevator for carrying the envelopes or other articles to be vended and a carriage having pins for engaging the topmost article, with'a double track for the carriage so that when the carriageis moved by the manually operated means, the pins will draw the topmost article from the pile and deposit it in the chute as the carriage moves forwardly, the track being provided with gates which shift the carriage to the upper part of the track as the carriage starts to return to its normal position, so that the pins will not touch the envelopes in the pile until the carriage descends at the rear of the track.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing our inventionin detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rear part of the device.

Figure 2 is a side view thereof.

Figure 3 is a front view of the upper part of the device. i

Figure 4 is a front view of the interior parts of the apparatus,with parts in section.

Figure 5 is a side view, with one of the side plates removed, and with parts in section.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view'of the coin controlled means;

is inserted through a slot designed to receive Figure 7 is a perspective view of the coin slide.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary front view showing the coin slot and the empty sign.

Figure 9 is a plan view oi the carriage andfthe bars over which it operates.

Figure 10 is a sectional view through one of the pin carrying members of the carriage.

Figure 11- is a view of one of the track members with its gates. 1

Figure 12 is a sectionron line 1212 of Figure ll.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of oneof the gates.-

Figure 14 is a perspective View of the rack bar and its guide. i

In these views, 1 indicates a casing for containing the various parts of the device,

this casing being'supported on a pedestal'2 which in turn is supported by the base 3. p

The pedestal is provided with a door 4 an'd a door 5 is arranged in the rear of the casing 1 so that access can be had to the interior of these parts. The door 5' is provided with a lock 6 and it is provided with inwardly extending parts 7 at its bottom which engage the top of-the door 4 so as to hold this door closed when thedoor 5 is closed. The casing 1 is provided with an arch shaped cover 8 which is detachably connected with the casing by means ofthehook 9 at one side of the cover engaging a flange 10 on thecasng and the set screws 11 at the other side of the cover passing through holes in the casing. 'The nuts of these screws are arranged in the casing, so that it is necessary to open the door 5 to unscrew the nuts before the cover can be removed. All the screws and other fastening means used in the device are arranged within the casing so that it is impossible to gain access to the'device if the door 5 is locked. The front of the casing has a plate12 thereon which contains a window 13, and a coin slot 14 which register with similar openings formed in the casing. A coin chute 15 leads from the slot 14 to a horizontal. guideway'16 arranged in the casing and a secondchute 17 has its upper endin communication with the guideway 16 ,in advance of the lower end of the chute 15 and its lower end is adapted to deposit a min in a drawer or 61118 arranged at the bottom of the casing. A slide 19 is arranged in the guideway 16 and has its forward end shaped to engage a coin such as shown at A in Figure 6, so as to move the coin from a point where it drops into the guideway from the chute 15 forwardly to a point where it will drop into the chute 17. provided with a notch 20 in its upper edge for receiving a projection 21 on a latch lever 22 which is pivoted at 23 to the front of the casing. A link 2d connects the slide 20 to an arm 25 which is connected with a rock shaft 26 journaled in the casing and having one end projecting therefrom where it has attached thereto a hand lever 27. A lug 28 is connected with the latch lever 22 andeX ten'ds over the guideway 16, while a setscrew 29 is adjustably'lnounted in the bottom of the guideway under said lug.

Thusit will be se'en that when a coin is dropped into the apparatus", it will slide down the chute 15 and come to rest in the guideway 16 between the slide 19 and the set screw 29 and lug 28. Then when the shaft 26 is rocked by its handle 27, the initial movement of the slide 19, which is permitted by the play of the projection 21 in the notch 20, will force the coin over the screw 29 and against the lug 28 which will raise the lug and the latch lever 22 so that the slide 19 is free to continue its movement. The continued movement of the slide will move the coin to a position where it will drop down the chute 17 into the till. If a coin has not been dropped into the apparatus, or the coin is of such a size that it will not touch the lug 28, the shaft 26 is locked against movement, as the projection 21of the latch lever 22 will strike the rear wall of the notch-20 in the slide 19, after the slide has been moved a short distance and thus prevent further movement of the parts. Thus the apparatus cannot be 0perated unlessa coin of the proper denomination is deposited in the coin slot. By adjusting the screw 29,'the device can be set for use with varying sizes of coins.

The envelopes B are arranged in a pile on an elevator 30 which is vertically movable between the uprights 31 which are arranged in the casing and in the pedestal. A cable 32 is attached to each end of the elevator and is wrapped around a pulley 33 carried by a shaft 34rmounted in a bracket 35. A second pulley 36 is mc'ninted on each shaft 34 and a cable 37 is wrapped around each pulley 36 and has its other end connected to a weight 38 which is arranged in a guideway 39. The weights tend to hold the elevator with the topmost envelope of the pile in engagement with the cross bars l0 which are spaced apart and have their ends supported at the sides of the casing. The ar rangement of the cables and their associated parts will act to hold the envelopes under This slide is substantially the same pressure no matter how many envelopes are in the pile, for as the pile is reduced, the weighton the elevator will lessen, but during the upward movement of the elevator, the cables 37 will have portions leave the pulleys so that the strain of the cables on the pulleys will be near to the center of the pulleys, while the elevator cables, winding up on the pulleys, will exert a strain nearer to the outside of the pulleys;

A carriage 11, made in the form of a rectangular shaped block, has rollers 42 on its ends, and these rollers engage the track grooves 13 formed in the beams 1% supported in the casing. Each track is provided with anupper' portion 43 and inclined portions 13" connectthe two parts together. Gates 15 are arranged one adjacent each inclined portion for causing the carriage to move from the lower track 43 to the upper track 43 at the beginning of its rearw rd movement and to move from the upper track 4C3" to the lower track 43 at the beginnning of its forward movcnicnt. Each gate comprises a shank i5 having a tapered head thereon which forms the gate, the shank being" carried by a bushingehj threaded in the beam a4 and a spring 4%.? connected with the shank and with an adjustable collar 18 tends" to hold the gate in closed position. As will be seen from Figures 11 and- 12 as the wheels of the carriage strike the two lower gates on the forward movement of the carriage, said gates will swingupwardly and permit the wheels to pass. As soon as the wheels have passed the gates, the springs 4-7 will return the gates to their normal inclined positions so that when the wheels strike the states on the return movement of the carriage', the wheels will slide up the gates and thus engage the upper track 43'. he upper gates work: in the same manner.

The carriage is provided with a plurality of split threaded bushings 49, each of which carries a. pin 50, the pin being clamped in the bushing by turning the bushing" by means of a screw driver or the like e1i-gag ing. a slot 51 therein which will cause the bushing to contract as it is of tapered shape and engages a tapered hole in the carriage. The points of the pins project slightly below the bars- 40, over which the carriag arranged so that said points will engage the top most envelope of the pile and thus cause said envelope to move with the carriage in its forward movement so that the envelope will be drawn off the top of the pile and deposited in a chute 52 which is arranged in the front part of the casing so that the purchaser can pick up the envelope by passing his hand through the opening 53 formed in the front of the casing'and which is covered by a hood which prevents rain and snow from entering it. If the envelope lUU should happen to stick to'the pins, it will be pushed oif'the sa1ne,'as the-carriage moves nected to the lugs 58 on the top of the carriage. Thus the carriage will be moved back and forth, as the rock shaft is moved by means of its handle 2?. l I a In order to prevent retrograde movement of the carriage, we provide a rack bar 59 tion thatthe advantages and novel features which is pivoted at its front end to the front part of the casing, and has its rearend movable 1n the guide 60 which is connected with the rear wall of the casing. A tooth 61 is fastened to the rear of the carriage at the center thereof for engaging the teeth of the rack and a roller 62 is arranged at the front of the carriage for engaging the rack bar. forward, the tooth 61 will ratchet over the teeth of the rack bar, but said teeth will prevent rearward movement of the carriage,

as will be understood.

In order to indicate when the device is empty and to prevent a person placing a coin in the slot, we provide a plate 63 mov ably arranged in the casing in rear of the plate 12 and which contains the: word Empty, so that when the plate is lowered, this word will appear at the window 13 to notify intended purchasers that the device is empty. A portion of the plate will also come across the slot 14 to close the same to prevent a coin being placed in the device when the same is empty. This plate is carried by a balance beam 64: which is pivoted at 65 to a part of the casing and which is so arranged as to hold the plate in its upper position. A vertically movable bar 66 is supported in the casing with its upper end directly under the inner end of the balancebeam and with its lower end adapted to be struck by the elevator when the same is nearly in its topmost position so that the bar will be moved upwardly by the elevator, thus tilting the beam 64 and lowering the plate so that a portion will close the slot and the word Empty will appear at the window. When the elevator is lowered to refill the same with envelopes, the parts will assume their normal position with the plate above the window.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a purchaser, by dropping a coin of suitable denomination in the slot 12 and then pulling the lever 27 forwardly, will operate the parts to cause the carriage to take an en velope from the top of the pile and drop it in the chute 52, where it can be picked the lower edges of the bars Thus as the carriage moves up by thepurchaser, the rearward movementof the lever returning the parts to normal position and the weights of the elevator moving thesame upwardlyto place the next envelope in a position where it can be engaged by the pins of the carriage. As he forest-ated, the coin will raise the latch lever 22 011 the, initial movement of the hand lever so as to unlock the parts to permit full movement of the same.

While the device is mainly intended for vending envelopes, and these envelopes can contain sheets of paper, if desired, it will,

of course, be understood that it could be used for vendin other articles.

It is thought from the foregoing descripof our invention will be readily apparent.

We desire it to be "understood that we may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is 1. In a vending machine for vending en velopes and the like, an elevator for contain ing the articles to be vended, horizontal bars against which the elevator holds the topmost articles on the pile on the elevator, a carriage arranged over the bars, pins carried by the carriage, and having their points engaging the topmost article, a rock'shaft, means for reciprocating the carriage from the rock shaft, a double track for the carriage, and automatic means for causing the carriage to move to the upper part of the track at the beginning of its rearward stroke and to move downwardly upon the lower portion of the track to engage an article at the beginning of its forward movement.

2. In a vending machine for vending envelopes andthe like, an elevator for containing the articles to be vended, horizontal bars against which the elevator holds the topmost articles on the pile on the elevator, a carriage arranged over the bars, pins carried by the carriage, and having their points engaging the topmost article, a rock shaft, means for reciprocating the carriage from the rock shaft, a double track for the carriage, automatic means for causing the car riage to move to the .upper part of the track at the beginning of its rearward stroke and to move downwardly upon the lower portion of the track to engage an article, at the beginning of its forward movement, such means comprising spring actuated gates.

8. In a vending machine for vending envelopes and the like, an elevator for con-e taining the articles to be vended, horizontal bars against which the elevator holds the topmost articles on the pile on the elevator, a carriage arranged over the bars, pins carengaging the topmost article, a rock shaft,

, ratchet means for preventing means for reciprocating the carriage from .the rock shaft, a double track for the earr age, automatic means tor causing the carv r age tomove to the upper part oi: the track at the beginning of its rearward stroke and to move downwardly upon the lower portion of the track to engage an article, at

vvelopes and the like, a weight operated elevator tor-holding thepile of articles .to be vended, spaced bars against which the ele vator holds the uppermost artlcle, a carriage laterally movable above the bars, pins carried by the carriage for engaging the up- -permostart1cle on the plle, upper and lower track parts for the carriage,,automatic gates for causing the carriage to move on to the upper track part at the beginning of its rearward movement and back on to the lower track part at the beginning of its forward movement, a rock shaft, a hand lever connected therewith, arms carried by the rock shaft, links connecting the arms with the carriage, ratchet meansfor preventing rearward movement of the carriage on its forward stroke, means for rendering such ratchet means inactive on the rearward movement of the carriage and a chute for receiving the envelope from the vcarriage.

In testimony whereof We aiiix our signatures.

BEDFOBD F. MITCHUSSON. 'HERMON H. LARKINS. 

